Exciting to get some patch gold & ✔️ at Eythrope LWS earlier - 2 Bewicks Swans on the River Thame CT flood waters. Assume are same birds that have been at Otmoor 🤷🏻‍♂️ Goosander, Woodcock, 4 Great White Egrets abd just the 187 Snipe too 👍 sunset over the flood not bad either …

My latest blog is at oldcaley.blogspot.com/2023/12/may-he… It's a mammoth one but doesn't feature any wooly Elephants just birds as usual And it's birding from last May so pretty late as usual. Thanks for looking! BirdGuides RSPB Oxford Ornithological Society BBO Wildlife Trust Wader Quest

Late addition to my year list this morning at my local Bicester Wetlands Reserve with this Jack Snipe #314. Time for one more maybe? BirdGuides Wader Quest BBO Wildlife Trust Oxford Ornithological Society Justin Taylor

With most of our ringing sites currently underwater, we've started the year targeting the linnet flock in one of the few dry(ish) fields in Oxford. 49 ringed over two afternoons is a promising start, given we ringed 46 total in 2023!

Another year of bike-powered birding around Oxfordshire underway with a female Common Scoter that joined the Tufted Duck flock, Scaup and Great Northern Diver all at Farmoor Reservoir today. Most other places underwater!

A nice little jaunt around RSPB Otmoor earlier today and my first time out for a while. Plenty or Redwings and Fieldfares around, as well as the usual Red Kites and large flocks of waders. Kingfisher flypast was a pleasant surprise BTO Oxfordshire Oxford Ornithological Society

A Fieldfare from RSPB Otmoor over the weekend BTO Oxfordshire Oxford Ornithological Society

Poor weather over the last month has made is difficult to conduct bird ringing surveys. However, a gap in the weather last weekend allowed us to run the first bird ringing survey of the year, with 124 birds caught including Green Woodpecker, Lesser Redpoll, and Yellowhammer.

Birds & Flowers: An Intimate 50 Million Year Relationship - published 13th February 2024: 'a masterful perspective on the biodiversity and evolution of the pollination of flowers by birds...superbly written...vivid stories, plenty of knowledge, amusement, & passion for nature'

Heard this Red Kite screaming from a tree opposite the house this morning. Sneaked into my car and used it as a hide to get a few shots! Oxford Ornithological Society RSPB BirdGuides BBO Wildlife Trust Bicester Green #redkite Chiltern Countryside

Blackcap on a very grey day on my local patch, taking my year list to 74 #PWC2024 Patchwork Challenge RSPB NatureUK Oxford Ornithological Society

Floods receding at Waterstock made for perfect Lapwing conditions - all c. 4,000 of them 😲🍾👍 biggest Wetland Bird Survey count on site. 41 snipe, 2 Jack Snipe, 270 Teal, 140 Wigeon, 5 Goosander, & Great White Egret & single Golden Plover. Turning into quite a winter on River Thame CT

Lovely couple of hours at Farmoor today and some cracking views of the juvenile Great Northern Diver, Knot and Greater Scaup (the first two Oxfordshire ✅️ for me). Oxford Ornithological Society BTO Oxfordshire

We don't get too many wading birds at Farmoor Reservoir these days so these Knot are proving very popular. Nice to get such close views of them. BirdGuides Wader Quest Oxford Ornithological Society RSPB BBO Wildlife Trust BBC Springwatch

Temperatures have finally dropped bringing large flocks of farmland birds to supplementary feeding stations. As a result, we were able to catch 150 birds at one study site this morning, including 9 Greenfinches, 11 Yellowhammers, 19 Reed Buntings and a staggering 39 Dunnocks.

Another calm night allowed the team to head out onto the Lambourn Downs to survey the Owl populations that utilise the extensive network of undisturbed grass for hunting. We finished the night with six Barn Owls seen and four birds ringed.

The next OOS talk is back IN-PERSON @ Exeter Hall, Kidlington. Weds 13 March @ 7.45pm: The Peregrine Falcon by Richard Sale & Steve Watson. Plumage, diet, population dynamics, breeding & survival and modern technology ...

OOS returns to Exeter Hall, Kidlington for monthly talks: Weds 11 Sept. 7.45pm start. "Birds & Flowers: An Intimate 50 Million Year Relationship" by Jeff Ollerton. The ecology and evolution of flower pollination by birds. Members free, guest donation.

Come and hear Jeff Ollerton on Birds & Flowers at Exeter Hall, Kidlington, the first monthly OOS meeting of the new season. Weds 11 September @ 7.45pm. Free for members; £3 donation suggested for visitors.

Our 2024-2025 Outings Programme starts soon with a visit to Farmoor Reservoir scheduled for Sunday 15th September. With recent sightings of Little Tern, Arctic Skua, Common Scoter, Shag and Little Stint, let's hope the current form guide continues... ebird.org/hotspot/L24057…